Helmet with multiple illuminants and a detachable cover

ABSTRACT

A helmet has a body, a cover and a chinstrap. The body has a lower segment, an upper segment and an illuminant assembly. The upper segment has multiple locking slots and recesses. The illuminant assembly is mounted in the recesses and has a circuit board, at least one battery seat, multiple illuminants and multiple electrical wires. The cover is mounted detachably on the upper segment of the body and has multiple windows, longitudinal slots and fasteners. The windows are defined through the cover and align respectively with the illuminants. The longitudinal slots are defined through the cover and align respectively with the locking slots. The fasteners detachably mount respectively through the longitudinal slots in the cover and locking slots, and each fastener has a knob and a T-shaped latch. The illuminants are replaced easily by detaching the cover. The chinstrap is attached to the body.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a helmet, and more particularly to ahelmet that has multiple illuminants and a detachable cover. Theilluminants can be replaced easily by detaching the cover.

2. Description of Related Art

People participating in sports such as skating, bicycling andskateboarding usually wear a helmet to prevent or mitigate head injuriescaused by collisions or falls.

A conventional helmet has a body and a cover. The body is made of ashock absorbing material and is worn on a human's head. The cover issecurely mounted on the body. However, the conventional helmet does nothave illuminants to warn vehicles or people of the person's presence.

Another conventional helmet further has multiple illuminants mounted inthe body covered by the cover. However, the cover is attached securelyto the body by fasteners such as screws or rivets. These fastenerscannot be detached without tools, which makes repair of the helmetdifficult.

To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a helmetwith multiple illuminants and a detachable cover to mitigate or obviatethe aforementioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main objective of the invention is to provide a helmet with multipleilluminants and a detachable cover in which the illuminants can bereplaced easily by detaching the cover.

A helmet in accordance with the present invention comprises a body, acover and a chinstrap.

The body has a lower segment, an upper segment and an illuminantassembly. The upper segment has multiple locking slots and multiplerecesses. The illuminant assembly is mounted in the recesses in the bodyand has a circuit board, at least one battery seat, multiple illuminantsand multiple electrical wires.

The cover is mounted detachably on the upper segment of the body and hasmultiple windows, multiple longitudinal slots and multiple fasteners.The windows are defined through the cover and align respectively withthe illuminants. The longitudinal slots are defined through the coverand align respectively with the locking slots in the body. The fastenersare detachably mounted respectively through the longitudinal slots inthe cover and locking slots in the body, and each fastener has a knoband a T-shaped latch.

The chinstrap is attached to the body.

Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention willbecome more apparent from the following detailed description when takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is perspective view of a first embodiment of a helmet withmultiple illuminants and a detachable cover in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the helmet in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front view in partial section of the helmet in FIG. 1 at afastener attached to the cover and the upper segment of the body;

FIG. 4 is a top view of a second embodiment of a helmet in accordancewith the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional side view of the helmet in FIG. 1 with a liphooking a bottom edge of the upper segment of the body.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 4, a helmet in accordance with the presentinvention is worn on a person's head and comprises a body (10), a cover(20, 20 a) and a chinstrap (30).

With further reference to FIG. 3, the body (10) is worn on a person'shead, is made of shock absorbing material and has two sides, a rear, alower segment (11), an upper segment (12), at least two through holes(17) and an illuminant assembly.

The lower segment (11) is worn on and conforms to a person's head.

With further reference to FIG. 2, the upper segment (12) has a front, abottom edge, two sides, multiple locking slots (17 a) and multiplerecesses.

The locking slots (17 a) are defined in the upper segment (12), and eachlocking slot (17 a) is comprised of a longitudinal slot and a transversecavity. The longitudinal slot is formed perpendicularly in the uppersegment (12) of the body (10). The transverse cavity is formed insidethe body (10) and communicates with the longitudinal slot. A firstembodiment of the helmet has two pairs of longitudinal slots (17 a)defined respectively in the sides of the upper segment (12). Withreference to FIG. 4, a second embodiment of helmet has the body (10) hasthree locking slots (17 a) defined respectively in the front and thesides of the upper segment (12).

The multiple recesses are formed in the upper segment and include acircuit board recess (16), at least one battery recess, multipleilluminant recesses (13) and multiple wireways (14). The wireways (14)are formed between the circuit board recess (16) and the at least onebattery recess and illuminant recesses (13).

The through holes (17) may be oval-shaped, and two through holes (17)are defined respectively through the sides of the body (10) and athrough hole (17) may be defined through the rear of the body (10).

The illuminant assembly is mounted in the recesses in the upper segment(12) and comprises a circuit board (19), at least one battery seat (15),multiple illuminants (18) and multiple electric wires.

The circuit board (19) is mounted in the circuit board recess (16),controls the operation of the illuminant assembly and has several modesof operation and a pushbutton (191). The modes of operation may includeconstantly radiating, pulsing, flashing, asynchronous flashing and thelike. The pushbutton (191) is mounted on the upper segment (12), isconnected to the circuit board (19) and selects the mode of operation ofthe illuminant assembly.

The battery seats (15) correspond respectively to and are mounted in thebattery recesses in the upper segment (12).

The illuminants (18) are mounted respectively in the illuminant recesses(13) and may be light emitting diodes (LEDs). The radiating illuminants(18) on the helmet make a person wearing the helmet more apparent toneighboring vehicles or people.

The electric wires connect the circuit board (19) to the at least onebattery seat (15) and the illuminants (18) and may be wire ribbons ordiscrete electrical wires. The wire ribbons are attached to the uppersegment (12) of the body (10) between the circuit board recess (16) andthe at least one battery recess and illuminant recesses (13). Thediscrete electrical wires are mounted in the wireways (14).

The cover (20, 20 a) is made of a thin, resilient material such asplastic, is mounted detachably on the upper segment (12) of the body(10), covers the illuminant assembly and has an outer surface, an outeredge, multiple windows (24), multiple longitudinal slots (27 a), twothrough holes (27), at least one lip (29), multiple fasteners (25) andmultiple transparent illuminant covers (28). The cover (20) may alsohave patterns or characters as a decoration.

The windows (24) are defined through the cover (20), align respectivelywith the illuminants (18) and allow light radiated by the illuminants(18) to pass through the cover (20, 20 a).

The longitudinal slots (27 a) are defined through the cover (20) andalign respectively with the longitudinal slots in the locking slots (17a) in the body (10).

The through holes (27) may be oval-shaped, are defined through cover(20) and align respectively with the through holes (17) in sides of thebody (10).

The at least one lip (29) extends inward from the outer edge of thecover (20) and hooks the bottom edge of the upper segment (12) of thebody (10).

The fasteners (25) are detachably mounted respectively through thelongitudinal slots (27 a) in the cover (20) and locking slots (17 a) inthe body (10), and each fastener (25) has a knob and a latch (251). Theknob abuts the upper segment of the cover (20). The latch (251) isT-shaped, is formed on the knob and extends through a correspondinglongitudinal slot (27 a) in the cover (20) and into a correspondinglocking slot (17 a) in the body (10) and is selectively held in thecorresponding transverse cavity in the locking slot (17 a). The fastener(25) can be detached from or attached securely to the cover (20) and thebody (10) by rotating the knob to align or misalign with thelongitudinal slot (27 a) in the cover (20) and the longitudinal slot ofthe locking slot (17 a) in the body (10).

The transparent illuminant covers (28) are mounted respectively in thewindows (24) and cover the illuminants (18).

The chinstrap (30) is attached to the body (10) and has a buckle, atleast two bands (31) and at least two anchors (32). The buckle holds thechinstrap (30) on a person's head. The bands (31) extend respectivelythrough the through holes (17, 27) in the body (10) and the cover (20),and each band (31) has a distal end. The anchors (32) are oval-shapedand are attached respectively to the distal ends of the bands (27). Twoof the anchors (32) abut the upper segment of the cover (20) and furtherhold the cover (20) on the body (10).

The cover (20) can be detached easily by removing the fasteners (25) andthe anchors (32) mounted through the cover (20, 20 a) so the illuminants(20) and batteries can be replaced easily. Moreover, the helmet canpresent different visual effects by replacing the cover (20) withdifferent decorative patterns or characters.

Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the presentinvention have been set forth in the foregoing description, togetherwith details of the structure and function of the invention, thedisclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in detail,especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts withinthe principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by thebroad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims areexpressed.

1. A helmet comprising: a body made of shock absorbing material andhaving two sides; a rear; a lower segment adapted to be worn on to aperson's head; an upper segment having a front; a bottom edge; twosides; multiple locking slots defined in the outer surface, and eachlocking slot having a longitudinal slot formed in the upper segment ofthe body, and a transverse cavity formed inside the body andcommunicating with the longitudinal slot; multiple recesses formed inthe upper segment and including a circuit board recess, at least onebattery recess and multiple illuminant recesses; an illuminant assemblymounted in the recesses in the upper segment and comprising a circuitboard mounted in the circuit board recess, controlling the operation ofthe illuminant assembly and having a pushbutton mounted on the outersurface, connected to the circuit board and selecting the modes ofoperation of the illuminant assembly; at least one battery seat mountedin the at least one battery recess in the outer surface; multipleilluminants mounted respectively in the illuminant recesses; andmultiple electric wires connecting between the circuit board, the atleast one battery seat and the illuminants; a cover made of resilientmaterial, mounted detachably on the upper segment of the body, coveringthe illuminant assembly and having an outer surface; an outer edge;multiple windows defined through the cover and aligning respectivelywith the illuminants; multiple longitudinal slots defined through thecover and aligning respectively with the longitudinal slots in thelocking slots in the body; and multiple fasteners detachably mountedrespectively through the longitudinal slots in the cover and the lockingslots in the body, and each fastener having a knob abutting the uppersegment of the cover; and a latch being T-shaped, formed on the knob andextending through a corresponding longitudinal slot in the cover andinto a corresponding locking slot in the body and being selectively heldin the corresponding cavity in the locking slot; and a chinstrapattached to the body.
 2. The helmet as claimed in claim 1, wherein: thebody further has two through holes defined respectively through thesides of the body; the cover further has two through holes definedthrough the cover and aligning respectively with the through holes inthe sides of the body; and the chinstrap has two bands extendingrespectively through the through holes in the body and the cover, andeach band having a distal end; and two anchors mounted respectively onthe distal ends of the bands and abutting the upper segment of thecover.
 3. The helmet as claimed in claim 2, wherein the cover furtherhas at least one lip extending inward from the outer edge of the coverand hooking the bottom edge of the upper segment of the body.
 4. Thehelmet as claimed in claim 3, wherein the cover further has multipletransparent illuminant covers mounted respectively in the windows andcovering the illuminants.
 5. The helmet as claimed in claim 4, whereinthe illuminants are light emitting diodes.
 6. The helmet as claimed inclaim 5, wherein: the through holes in the body and the cover areoval-shaped; and the anchors on the band of the chinstrap areoval-shaped.
 7. The helmet as claimed in claim 6, wherein two pairs oflocking slots are formed respectively in the sides of the upper segmentof the body.
 8. The helmet as claimed in claim 6, wherein three lockingslots are formed respectively in the front and the sides of the outersurface.
 9. The helmet as claimed in claim 1, wherein: the multiplerecesses further include multiple wireways formed between the circuitboard recess and the at least one battery recess and illuminantrecesses; and the electric wires are mounted in the wireways.